This is the life: Saigon River cruising and Halong Bay feasting

Day trips start at around US$2,100, inclusive of round-trip transfers between the hotel and where the yacht is docked and a champagne picnic service on-board.

The Reverie Saigon hotel has launched a new 'MC6 Monte Carlo' 60-foot yacht on the Saigon River for day cruises that take anywhere from two-and-half hours to eight hours.

Day trips start at around US$2,100, inclusive of round-trip transfers between the hotel and where the yacht is docked and a champagne picnic service on-board.

Still in Vietnam, British Michelin-starred chef John Burton-Race will bring celebrity star power to Halong Bay when he hosts a seven-course dinner next month.

Burton-Race will host the dinner with French winemaker Maison Castel for 80 guests as part of a special one-night cruise aboard the new President Cruises vessel from January 5-6.

The culinary journey will be followed by a live performance by a Brazilian jazz duo in a piano bar that evokes the atmosphere of a 1920s New York jazz café.

President Cruises will also introduce a lunch and dinner menu featuring European-inspired dishes crafted in consultation with Burton-Race, who is training all of President Cruises’ chefs and food and beverage staff.

“I couldn’t think of a better destination to escape the UK’s winter weather than Halong Bay,” said Burton-Race, who, in 2000, took over the Landmark London hotel. After notching up two Michelin stars at the Landmark, he then opened the New Angel restaurant and hotel in Devon that was awarded a Michelin star in 2005.

“The ultimate goal is to charter new territory with President Cruises concocting a culinary experience that packs as much of a punch on all of the senses as Halong Bay itself with its spectacular limestone karsts,” added Burton-Race.